In elementary school, students read about 50% fiction and 50% nonfiction texts. With Common Core sweeping through our nation, it is now required that by the time these students reach middle school, nonfiction/ informational texts should be the majority of what is read. As teachers, it is our responsibility to prepare students for the 21st century, as well as the workplace. Most of what they will read as adults will be informational texts. Keeping this in mind, some may wonder, "Where do I begin?"
Well, I know that it is March and testing is just around the corner. But, here is a great resource that you can begin to use NOW, in preparation for end-of-year assessments. It is titled
Texts and Lessons for Content-Area Reading, by Harvey "Smokey" Daniels and Nancy Steineke.
This book is organized by strategy. First, the authors will introduce you to an innovative strategy and then explain it step-by-step. They also offer variations of that same technique so you can choose the one that will work best for you.
BUT... that's not all!
They also provide you with the perfect article to go along with the strategy.
What more could you ask for?
Reading is so important. To be honest, I think that as much as we can do as educators, a love of reading must be fostered in the homes and through the families. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for ELA and Reading in the school systems.
ReplyDelete-D.Gilchrist